And then there’s our genetic inheritance from our hunter-gatherer ancestors. All those tens of thousands of years ago food was often in scarce supply so they ate as much as they could when they had it, to store fat ready for leaner times. This means we still have a strong hunger drive even if we are overweight our genes still think we can’t afford to take the risk of missing out! Annoyingly, these ‘drive to eat’ mechanisms aren’t as efficient when it comes to stopping eating so we can happily go-ahead and eat whether we are hungry or not. To counteract the toxic environment we don’t need to face limited food supplies or become athletes. Small and subtle changes to our lifestyle can be enough to tip the balance in our favour so that our weight stays more or less stable over [Read more...]
we gain weight if we take in more calories than we burn
we gain weight if we take in more calories than we burn. It’s that simple. Many of us will gain around a pound a year without realizing it. Some of us will gain a lot more. It’s not because we are greedy, bad or even obviously overeating. It’s because we live in an environment where food is everywhere and activity is discouraged. A place where food is so abundant that eating purely for hunger is a rarity rather than a given. Not only is food convenient (think fast-food chains, chocolates and crisps at tills), it’s seductively advertised, quickly prepared, cheap, confusingly labeled, in big-portion sizes and tastes better than ever. Meanwhile, we sit at desks, in front of television and computer screens or behind a steering wheel. [Read more...]
Osteoporosis causes Loss of Bone Density
Loss of teeth during midlife and thinning of the bones supporting the teeth are warning signals. This bone thinning may be detected by dental X rays. A recent study reports that loss of teeth at midlife occurs more often in women than in men and in white women much more often than in black women. Women who lost their teeth early and smoked developed osteoporosis three times as frequently as women who did not smoke. However, we women will have to question and convey information between our physicians and dentists, since they so rarely communicate with each other. Ordinary X rays don’t clearly detect osteoporosis until at least 30 percent of bone density is lost, and are not suitable for screening purposes. One screening tool is a bone-density scanner, of which there are several types: single- and dual-photon absorptiometry, dual X-ray absorptiometr and quantitative CT (computered tomography). This is another name for a CAT scan (computerized axial tomography). [Read more...]
Self Help Alternative for Healthy Eyes
Do not neglect regular eye exams: a complete eye examination is important to check for glaucoma and other serious eye diseases and may detect other undiagnosed systemic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. Everyone over forty should have her eyes checked every two years by an ophthalmologist or an optometrist, and a test for glaucoma should be performed at every eye examination of persons over twenty-five. The intra-ocular pressure reading test takes only a few seconds. Good diagnostic procedure requires taking a family history, checking for structural abnormalities, and viewing the optic nerve with an ophthalmoscope, a flashlight like instrument that allows the eye-care practitioner to see the optic [Read more...]
Prescribed Hormones to Prevent Osteoporosis
When a condition has received as much publicity as osteoporosis has recently; there are enormous profits to be made by drug companies. Hormones are particularly profitable, and manufacturers are constantly seeking new markets. Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories (now a subsidiary of American Home Products), manufacturer of the most commonly used estrogen (Premarin), aggressively advertises in magazines and medical journals and hired a public-relations firm to run a massive public education campaign on osteoporosis. This campaign has been very successful in making osteoporosis a popular subject for TV talk shows and magazine articles and has culminated in the passage of federal legislation for an annual Osteoporosis Awareness Week. A carefully [Read more...]
